


Five Women Who Weren’t Intimidated by Pepper Potts…

by hiddencait



Category: Age of Ultron - Fandom, Daredevil (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Developing Friendships, F/M, Gen, ladies being awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 07:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6108775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddencait/pseuds/hiddencait
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>…and One Who Was Beyond Such Small Things as Intimidation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Women Who Weren’t Intimidated by Pepper Potts…

**Author's Note:**

  * For [weaselett](https://archiveofourown.org/users/weaselett/gifts).



****_Natasha Romanov_

First impressions hadn’t gone well. Neither had second impressions, if either of them were asked. Natasha’d had her mission which, unfortunately, hadn’t gone well for Tony’s stability, and she hadn’t been cleared to keep Pepper in the loop about her true purpose as Natalie Rushman.

Without any knowledge of that purpose, Pepper saw yet another young woman hoping to screw her way into a promotion. Admittedly, that strategy rarely worked in the past (usually there was plenty of screwing, but promotions were thin on the ground unless recommended by Pepper or other company supervisors), but Tony wasn’t remotely immune to attractive women, particularly when they possessed the intelligence even Pepper had to admit “Natalie” did.

So no, Pepper wasn’t particularly fond of her early on. Even after Natalie shifted her allegiance to her as the new CEO, the air between them was tense, leaving Happy to act as a buffer between the two during day to day business.

But they worked well together. Very, _very,_ well.

After the fiasco at the Expo and Natalie’s reveal as _Agent_ Natasha Romanov, Pepper found herself sighing over the fact that she’d never find another assistant that impressive.

Having Natasha as a friend, albeit a slightly adversarial one, was worth the loss though. Almost. Mostly. Pepper’s answer on the subject tended to change depending on how many pitchers of sangria she wanted after particularly difficult Board meetings.

  


_Maria Hill_

Pepper was predisposed to like Deputy Director Hill long before she ever met her in person. Phil spoke well of her, and judging from his muttering about frosty SHEILD femme fatales, Maria’d managed to ruffle Tony’s feathers, too. That combination of reactions was always a good sign in Pepper’s opinion. The woman in question was both more and less of what Pepper expected upon meeting her at one of Stark Industries’ charity gala. The cool competency was there, of course, as was the ramrod posture of a career military officer, almost out of place on a woman in a stunning red dress. But the sly sense of humor and the genuine respect were bonuses Pepper hadn’t planned for. They spent the evening orbiting each other with their respective dates, exchanging wry remarks on the character of various investors and other corporate movers and shakers. By the end of the night, Pepper was bemoaning SHIELD for their luck in scooping Maria up before the corporate world ever knew she existed out of the military.

They went out for drinks a few weeks later, and to dinner the month after that with Natasha and another SHIELD agent Maria invited named Melinda May. Eventually there was a scheduled ladies’ night ever second Wednesday of the month, barring world ending emergencies, of course.

_Darcy Lewis_

“Just so you know, I’m working on a massive girl crush on you right now,” said the young woman who’d accompanied Dr. Foster on the lab tour. She gave a pointed wave up and down Pepper’s figure, ending at her feet. “And seriously, at least half of it is from those _shoes_. Sweet baby jeebus, those are _hot.”_

Much to Pepper’s bemusement, the woman, she’d remembered her name was Darcy, fanned herself and waggled her eyebrows. “I’m… flattered?”

Pepper hadn’t meant it as a question, but honestly, this was not a situation she was used to. Women blatantly objectifying Tony – that she had plenty of experience with, but if women ever checked her out, she guessed they were usually much more subtle than this.

“You should be. It takes a truly incredible lady to trip the bi-side. Well done.” Darcy winked at Pepper, and started to say something else, but a call from Dr. Foster had her pausing. “Coming, Boss Lady!” She turned back to Pepper, flashing actual finger guns. “That’s my cue. I’ll see you later!”

Pepper managed to get safely behind the closed door to her office before bursting into giggles. Damned, if she wasn’t flattered after all.

 

_Laura Barton_

It didn’t surprise Pepper that Laura was an unflappable as they came. The kind of woman who could provide a foundation and a home for a wander like Clint Barton, and in turn his Tasha, would have a core of strength like none other.

Tony had told her how unfazed Laura had been upon meeting the Avengers, or more accurately upon feeding and housing the ragged band of fighters that descended upon her out-of-the-way farm house, battered in more ways than one.

What Pepper hadn’t expected was how much she would _like_ the other woman. On the surface, they were so different: the executive living in a high rise in New York and the stay-at-home mom in the middle of nowhere.

In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. There was one thing they had in common, a tendency to be underestimated and dismissed by those around them. Granted, Pepper was slowly but surely convincing the misogynists of the corporate world that she was a force to be reckoned with now, but it wasn’t that long ago that she’d been “only” Tony Stark’s PA, and according to man, personal bed warmer. There was something in Laura’s quiet eyes and slow grin that told her Laura was just as used to the sly remarks and more pointed dismissals as Pepper was.

Only the content would be different.

Questions about a husband who’s gone all the time, accusations of lovers that aren’t him, insinuations about the fathers of her children, implications that she’ll never be strong enough to run a spread like this one on her own.

Pepper guessed Laura had heard them all, but clearly they hadn’t phased her one bit. It was the kind of strength Pepper could always appreciate, and the kind of woman she wanted to get to know.

So when Maria talked her into a weekend away at the Barton farm with some of the other incomparable ladies of their circle, Pepper packed carefully, bringing her favorite broken in cut offs jeans and a very nice bottle of white wine that Clint had assured her Laura would like.

_Claire Temple_

Pepper tried again to argue with the woman kneeling at her feet. “Really, it’s fine. I just stumbled a bit – it’s not that bad.”

“Sorry, but it _is_ that bad,” the stranger retorted, her hands on Pepper’s ankle far gentler than her voice had been. Still, Pepper gasped and winced as her fingers prodded a particularly sore spot. The woman paused. “Right there, huh? It’s definitely swelling. I don’t think you’ve fractured it, but I still think you need to go to the ER for x-rays just to be sure.”

Pepper winced again, this time at the thought of rearranging the day’s schedule to accommodate the wait, even at the clinic in the Tower. “I –”

“I can get her checked out, miss.” _And cue Happy to the rescue,_ Pepper thought wryly; she’d wondered when he might catch up. A rather annoyed Happy, too. This would teach her to sneak out for an incognito hot dog in Central Park.

“And you are…” Pepper’s knight in pale green scrubs didn’t look thrilled to be relinquishing her patient to another stranger, a sentiment Pepper could fully understand and appreciate in this city, but one that was unnecessary for the moment.

“He works for me. It’s fine.” The woman didn’t look convinced, but finally relented, standing slowly, though she still kept herself angled subtly between Pepper and Happy. Pepper appreciated that, too.

“All right then. But I mean it about the x-rays.”

“X-rays?” Happy narrowed his eyes at Pepper’s feet and the conspicuous lack of a shoe on one of them.

“I twisted my ankle on the break in the pavement over there.” She shrugged sheepishly. “Teach me to try to wear flats, huh?”

Happy grunted out a laugh and shook his head. “Guess you should have known better. Let’s get you up and to the car.”

“Thank you again, miss…” Pepper paused in Happy’s arms, realizing the other woman hadn’t ever introduced herself.

“Claire. Claire Temple – I’m a nurse. Make sure you stay off your feet for the rest of the day, Ms. Potts. Your ankle will regret it if you don’t.”

Claire strolled off before Pepper could call her on the fact that she hadn’t introduced herself either.

 

**…and One Who Was Beyond Such Small Things as Intimidation.**

_Frigga_

It felt like dying, Pepper thought, falling through fire and twisted metal. She _should_ be dying.

 _But you are not._ The words were a cool balm against the heat that raged within her skin. Vaguely Pepper felt her body strike the ship’s deck with a sickening crunch, but within the space of the voice, there was no pain. She could breathe without fear for what felt like the first time in ages, ever since that piece of shit stuck his needles in her. The thought alone was enough to spike her anger, sending fire licking through her again.

A hand seemed to stroke her cheek, and Pepper shuddered, leaning into the touch. _My son speaks well of you. The woman he knows is strong enough to face this._

“But it hurts…” Had she the strength to care, Pepper would have winced at the words and the raw way they left her lips.

 _Yes, it does. But we can make it stop._ The voice seemed to expand around and into Pepper, and she felt the power that was Extremis try to rise in answer to the new, strange thing joining it beneath her skin. But the voice, so like what Pepper would dream the dance of planets might sound like, softened the onslaught, wrapping itself around Extremis and soothing it with a breath. _You can do this, as well. This power will answer to you, if you ask it to._

Pepper took a deep breath, and followed the voice inward, this time bringing her own sense of self to bear against the fire within her, forging Extremis into something new, something _hers._

The voice didn’t speak again, but as Pepper rose to her feet, a sense of approval rushed through her, and she smiled despite the horror around her and strode forward to vanquish her foe.

Later Pepper would wonder if she dreamed it all, if she’d been so gone under the influence of Extremis that she’d hallucinated. But after a few months, Thor shocked his way back into Tony’s, and in turn her, life.

He came with a gift from his mother: a basket containing a single, shining apple. The sense of power that lingered about the basket was undeniably familiar.

The apple tasted like cool sunlight and stardust. Pepper told Thor to tell his mother “Thank you.”

He said she already knew.


End file.
